The Santa Claus parade will dominate downtown Montreal this weekend

Oh yes, it is that time. Christmastime. Christmas music is in the air, decorations are everywhere. And this Saturday, Nov. 23, the 69th annual Santa Claus Parade will draw crowds to the streets of downtown Montreal as old St. Nick spreads seasonal cheer from his sleigh.

New route, new features

Led as always by Santa and the Christmas Fairy (Vanessa Pilon, for the third consecutive year), the parade will make its way east on René-Lévesque Blvd. from Guy to St-Urbain from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Expect to see nearly 20 floats, three of which will be towed by Tesla X electric cars, including a first-time appearance by Cirque du Soleil with a float advertising their “ice creation” show AXEL.

There will also be mascots from four Montreal sports teams (including the Canadiens’ Youppi) as well as Toys R Us’s Geoffrey the Giraffe and Planters’ Mr. Peanut. Among the parade’s live performers are singers Brigitte Boisjoli, Christian Marc Gendron and Yoan as well as a number of marching bands and street artists.

For those of you who are too busy/lazy/cold to attend the parade, it will be broadcast later on Sunday, at 5 p.m. on TVA as well as Yoopa, and will be repeated once on TVA (Dec. 8) and five times on Yoopa during Christmas week. ■

For more details about the Destination Centre-Ville/Carnaval de Québec-produced parade, look here.